Strip cutter



March 19, 1957 J. K. WILSON ETAL 2,785,749

STRIP CUTTER Filed April 15, 1955 INVENTORS Jack K. Wi/qorl, Norman E. Wilson 6 A 7 TOR/V5545 srrur CUTTER Jack K; Wilson, Norman E. Wilson, and Robert S. Wilson,

\ a 7 Springfield, Mo.

' Application Apr-i115, 1955, Serial No. 501,543

1 Claim. (Cl. 164-61) This invention relates to shear devices, and more particularly to an improved strip cutter.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved implement for cutting flexible sheet material, such as cloth or the like, into strips, said implement being simple in construction, being easy to operate, and being easy to mount on a work surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved strip cutting tool which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is durable in construction, which is substantially self-sharpening and which enables strips to be cut to close dimensional tolerances.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claim, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved strip cutting implement constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional detail view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the improved strip cutting implement is designated generally at 11 and comprises a bracket member 12 having a bottom flange 13 in which is threadedly engaged a clamping screw 14, said bracket member comprising the top flange 15 which is engageable over the edge of a table, or other suitable work support, whereby the bracket 12 may be rigidly secured to the table or other support by tightening the clamping screw 14. Secured on the top flange 15 of the bracket 12 in any suitable manner is a housing 16 containing conventional gearing operated by an external crank 17 secured on the end of shaft 19, shaft 19 being geared to shaft 18 so that the shafts 18 and 19 are driven in opopsite directions responsive to the rotation of the crank 17 by the coupling gearing contained in the housing 16. Thus, as will be readily apparent to anyone skilled in the art, the shaft 19 carrying the crank 17 may be provided with a gear which meshes with a gear carried on the inner end of the shaft 18, whereby the'shafts 18 and 19 will be rotated in opposite directions responsive to the rotation of the crank 17.

Designated generally at 21 and 22 are respective cutter wheels secured on the ends of the shafts 18 and 19 and being arranged perpendicular to the shafts 18 and 19 and substantially in the same plane. As will be apparent from Figure l, the shafts 18 and 19 are parallel and extend horizontally, whereby the cutter wheels 21 and 22 are arranged in a common vertical plane perpendicular to the plane of the shafts 18 and 19.

The cutter wheel 21 is formed on the side thereof adjacent the housing 16 with the circular cutting disc element 23, whereas the cutter wheel 22 is formed on the outer side thereof with a similar cutting disc element 24, the disc elements 23 and 24 being thus disposed with their inside cutting faces substantially coplanar. As

.wheel element 23.

2,785,749 Ice Patented Mar. '19, 1957 shown in Figure 2, the peripheral portion of the disc 23 overlaps the peripheral portion of the disc 24 and is in shearing cooperation therewith.

The wheel 21 is formed with the gripping wheel element 25 coplanar with the lower cutting wheel 24, and similarly, the wheel 22 is formed with the circular gripping wheel element 26 coplanar with the upper cutting As, shown in Figure 1, the peripheral edges of the gripping wheel elements 25 and 26 are serrated and are arranged closely adjacent to the peripheral edges of the respective cutter wheel elements 24 and 23, so that the severed edge portions of flexible sheet material, such as cloth, or the like, sheared by the action of the cutting wheels 23 and 24 will be gripped as the sheet material is passed through the wheels.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the inside faces of the respective cutting wheels 23 and 24 are formed with annular grooves 27 and 28 concentric with the shafts 18 and 19 to define respective annular relief areas included within the overlapping cutting edge portions of the cutter wheel elements 23 and 24, whereby the outer shearing surfaces 29 and 30 engage each other at the diamond-shaped overlapping portions 40, 40 of the wheel elements shown in Figure 2, to provide a self-sharpening action. Thus, the contact area between the cutting discs is only at the two diamond-shaped areas 40, 40. The discs are held in contact with each other by the spring pressure between the housing 16 and upper shaft 18 and the reaction of same by the lower shaft gear and the housing. The cutting action is produced because of this contact.

Rigidly secured to the intermediate portion of the main housing 16 is a horizontally extending table member 31 having a depending front flange 32 formed with the horizontal slot 33. Supported on the table 31 is the upstanding, transversely extending guide bar 34 which is formed with the depending lug 35 overlying the flange 32 and adjustably secured thereto through the slot 33 by a clamping bolt 36. The clamping bolt 36 is provided with a suitable clamping nut on its inner end portion, whereby the guide bar 34 may be secured in an adjusted position with respect to the plane of the rotary wheels 21 and 22.

In operation, a strip of material may be formed by feeding the material through the wheels with one edge of the material supported against the upstanding guide bar 34, the crank 17 being rotated to cause the cutting wheels to grip and sever the material and to feed said material to the wheels. The severed portions of the material are gripped by the cooperation of the serrated wheel portions 25, 26 with the edges of the respective wheels 24 and 23, whereby the material is moved through the device responsive to the rotation of the crank 17. Concurrently with the shearing or cutting action, the surfaces 29 and 30 are rubbed against each other at the overlapping portions of the wheels, providing a selfsharpening action which eliminates the necessity of sharpening or refinishing of the shearing surfaces of the wheels.

While a specific embodiment of an improved strip cutter has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A strip cutter comprising a support, a pair of parallel shafts journaled on said support, means for simultaneously rotating said shafts in opposite directions, respective cutting discs arranged perpendicular to and secured on said shafts and having smooth peripheral portions and overlapping cutting edge portions, respective serrated eii'eular grippingfmembers-"concentrically secured t0 said -cutting discs, 'the serrated grippingmembers being smaller in diameter than said cutting 'discs, and the serrated gripping member of each cuttingdisc being substantially coplanar-with -and having-a peripheral pertion thereof located closely-adjacent to; a peripheral sportion of the other cutting disc, said cutting discs beingflfdrmed with se'spective concentric-annularreliefigfooves-oh the outer portions -of- 't-he'ir inside-faces andbeing included in said overlapping cutting edge -portions; said-cutting edge perlions-overlapping each othePa-ndbeing in" contact at two substantially diamond-shaped areas to --provide--a-selfsharpening acti0n,-= a table element secured --tos'aid st pf port -andhaving-amedge portion-extending adjacentssaid bverlapping disc edge porticins, said table element being parallel .to saidsshafts, and .an tupstandingtguide member on said table element and extending parallel to said cutting discs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

